Kunz returns, enters Legion HOF

NEW ULM -- Former New Ulm Legion Gold coach Dave Kunz, who coached the Gold from 1997 to 2006, was inducted into the Minnesota American Legion Hall of Fame Wednesday night prior to the tournament banquet at the Royal Oak Event Center.

Kunz, who compiled a 271-118 record, led his teams to eight state tournament trips.

In 2003, New Ulm hosted the Central Plains Regional and advanced to the Regional championship game against Rochester.

It was a game that still brings back memories. It was also a game that took just over a day to complete because of a suspended game and ended the next morning with a pick-off play that many baseball fans in New Ulm still remember. That game sent Rochester to the American Legion World Series, where they won the championship.

And it took just one pitch and a pickoff throw.

Because of rain, the game was suspended and continued the next day at noon.

New Ulm was down 6-4 but had runners on first and second with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Kunz remembered that the game started early that day.

"There were people still coming into the game" he recalled. "And then the game was over."

What transpired when the game resumed was that the Rochester pitcher had a 2-2 count on Eric Austvold with two outs and Jamie Hoffmann on deck.

"They [Rochester] set it up so their pitcher had to throw a ball to run the count to 3-2 because they did not want to face Jamie," Kunz recalled. "We found this out years later when players go on and play in college years later -- they wanted a full count and entice the runner at second base to get off on the next pitch being a full count and two outs."

What happened on the 3-2 pitch was that the Rochester pitcher -- instead of throwing the pitch -- turned and caught the New Ulm runner breaking for third in a short rundown and suddenly ending the game.

"They went to the World Series and the closest game they had was 5-2," Kunz said.

He said when it happened so suddenly it made him think, what do we do?

"We met as a team about an hour later to talk and everyone was OK," he said.

Kunz left New Ulm and took a teaching and coaching job in the Eveleth-Gilbert School District in 2005 and in 2011

Kunz became the District 8 Legion Baseball Director and served in that position for seven years.

Kunz has also been an American Legion Baseball Tournament Regional Assistant Director since 2012 serving the Northwest, Central Plains, Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic Regions and is highly regarded.

Kunz is still doing Regional Legion Baseball Tournaments and after the banquet Wednesday, Kunz is off to Mandan, North Dakota, for the Regionals.